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Blog
A blueprint for digital censorship in the US?
Internal documents from the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), as revealed by digital censorship journalist Matt Taibbi, showed that the group’s primary…

Blog
In honor of Free Speech Week, end all regulatory gag orders
Free Speech Week is an annual, nonpartisan celebration of the indispensable right to speak one’s mind. While every level of government is expected…
Reason
The Justice Department’s Proposals for Breaking Up Google’s Dominance Won’t Work
Reason quoted CEI’s expert on antitrust atmosphere Jessica Melugin, director of the Center for Technology and Innovation at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, tells Reason that a…
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Blog
CEI Issues Report on the Nation’s Six Worst State Attorneys General
Today, CEI issued another of its periodic “worst state attorney general” lists, in a lengthy report explaining why those attorneys general received that dubious distinction. (Previous …
Overlawyered
EEOC: federal law already bans sexual-orientation bias
The Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader on EEOC Llgislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation:…
Overlawyered
Schools Roundup
The Overlawyered cites CEI`s Hans Bader on college speech codes: …
The College Fix
First Amendment protections on public college and university campuses
The College Fix cites CEI`s Hans Bader on college speech codes: The title is from Hans Bader’s June 2 statement to the US…
Blog
Obama Administration Pressures Colleges to Adopt Unconstitutional Speech Codes
Under the Obama administration, the Education Department has pressured schools and colleges to restrict speech, including off campus speech, even when it is protected by the…
National Review
Two Excellent Letters on an Excellent Op-ed on Title IX
National Review cites CEI`s Hans Bader`s letter on the an op-ed on unconstitutional speech codes: On June 8, the Wall Street Journal ran…
Advice Goddess Blog
How ADA-For-The-Web Regulations Could Kill This Website
So few people understand how laws passed can be used — and easily misused. Stretched into something they were never supposed to be (or not…
The Wall Street Journal
Title IX: From Pro-Female Reform to an Anti-Male One
The Wall Street Journal quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the unconstitutional speech codes: “Ms. Gavora rightly criticizes the Education Department, where I used…
The Wall Street Journal
Title IX: From Pro-Female Reform to an Anti-Male One
Ms. Gavora rightly criticizes the Education Department, where I used to work, for pressuring colleges to adopt unconstitutional speech codes in the name of fighting…
Blog
DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: How the Deck Is Stacked Against Anonymous Political Speech
Our friends over at the Reason Foundation, a venerable libertarian think tank and publisher of Reason magazine, recently received a grand jury subpoena from a federal prosecutor…
Blog
DOJ vs. Reason.com Commenters: When Everything Is Deemed a “Threat”
The Supreme Court has said that true threats can be banned without violating the First Amendment, but that doesn’t mean that hyperbolic rants are unprotected…
Blog
The “Draw Muhammad” Contest and the Futility of Trying to Correct Journalistic Mistakes about the Law
Journalists often not only get the law wrong, but then have the audacity to smugly talk down to people who attempt to correct them (usually…
Blog
Deceptive Discrimination Laws
Discrimination may be bad for business, but that doesn’t mean laws banning discrimination are good for business. Often, these laws are like the proverbial Trojan…
Blog
University of California Dean: Academic Freedom Makes Students “Feel Unsafe”
Recently, the dean of the School of Social Welfare at the University of California at Berkeley condemned a professor’s constitutionally protected remarks, including but not limited…
Blog
Victory for “Caveman” Blogger and Free Speech in North Carolina
Many people associate professional licensing with consumer safety. For example, we wouldn’t want any schlub doing surgery. But where occupational licensing laws may have started…
Simple Justice
First Amendment Relativists
Simple Justice quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: In his parting shot as ombudsman for…
Blog
NPR Wrongly Suggests Hate Speech and Blasphemy Are Unprotected by First Amendment
NPR gets a lot of taxpayer money based on a false pretense of objectivity and accuracy. Its departing ombudsman, Edward Schumacher-Matos, says that “as a public…
The Daily Caller
NPR’s Ombudsman Is A Drooling Moron Who Doesn’t Understand The First Amendment
The Daily Caller quotes CEI`s Hans Bader on the NPR Ombudsman`s opinion on free speech and the Charlie Hebdo attack: Outgoing National Public Radio ombudsman Edward Schumacher-Matos…
Blog
Terrorist Attack on Charlie Hebdo Reveals the Sorry State of Free Speech in the West
My wife Sylvie, who grew up in France, is terribly shocked about yesterday’s terrorist attack on the French satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo, which murdered 12 people, including…
Blog
Michael Mann Case Is about First Amendment, Not Global Warming
This morning the D.C. Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in Michael E. Mann v. Competitive Enterprise Institute, National Review, et al. CEI General Counsel…
CNS News
Most Democrats Back ‘Hate Speech’ Ban in Poll; Conservatism Equated with Hate
51 percent of Democrats support banning “hate speech,” while only 21 percent oppose such a ban, in a recent You.Gov poll. This is disturbing…
Blog
Taxpayers to Subsidize “Ministry of Truthiness”
The Washington Free Beacon reports: The federal government is spending nearly $1 million to create an online database that will track “misinformation” and…
The Hill
Devil’s in the details of Campus Accountability and Safety Act
The Campus Accountability and Safety Act (CASA), S. 2692, seeks to change how publicly funded universities investigate allegations of sexual assault. . . The act…
The Daily Signal
Cyberbullying Law Struck Down in New York
A state court in New York recently struck down that state’s cyberbullying law as violating the First Amendment. . . the state of New…
Daily Caller
Democrat On U.S. Civil Rights Commission Wants Speech Codes For ‘Adolescent’ 21-Year-Olds
Hans Bader is mentioned in a Daily Caller article discussing campus restrictions on First Amendment-protected speech: Among many others, Hans Bader…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Blog
Federal Official Says Campus Speech Should Be Restricted to Protect Young People’s Brains
U.S. Civil Rights Commission member Michael Yaki says that speech on college campuses should be restricted to protect young people’s developing brains. This is yet…
Overlawyered
Labor and Employment Law Roundup
“Telling Employee He Is ‘Eligible’ For Bonus Not Enough to Create Contractual Obligation” [Chris Parkin/Daniel Schwartz; Connecticut appeals court] Richard Epstein on Obama’s anti-LGBT-discrimination…
Blog
Your Tax Dollars at Work: Justice Department Investigates Anti-Obama Parade Float
The Justice Department has responded to an anti-Obama float in a parade by treating it as a “discrimination dispute” necessitating federal intervention. One more…
Blog
New York Court Voids Cyberbullying Law, Thus Casting Doubt on Proposed Workplace Bullying Law
A law firm notes, “Since 2003, twenty-one states have introduced legislation to combat private workplace bullying but none have been passed into law.” However, a…
Blog
IRS May Step Up Its Attack on Free Speech of Non-Profits
Earlier, we wrote about how proposed IRS regulations would gag 501(c)(4) groups—and potentially 501(c)(3) groups like think tanks as well—by redefining non-partisan, non-election-related criticism of government officials,…
Comment
CEI Comments to the IRS on Proposed New Restrictions on Candidate-Related Activities of 501(c)(4) Organizations
Full Document Available in PDF The Treasury Department’s proposed rule has been…
Forbes
Art, Free Speech, Hypocrisy, Tightie-Whities, and Teenage Tantrums
Welcome to the culture wars’ latest opera buffa. In recent weeks, Wellesley College has been embroiled in a raging controversy over …. a lifelike statue…
Legal Brief
Michael Mann v. National Review, CEI, et al. – Mann’s Motion to Amend Complaint, and Amended Complaint
The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a letter on August 21, 2012 from an attorney representing Penn State University Professor Michael E. Mann that demands that…
The Blaze
How the IRS Could Chill Political Speech by Redefining the Word ‘Candidate’
f adopted, such a rules change would be open to broad legal interpretation, said Hans Bader, senior attorney for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free…
Wall Street Journal
The Latest IRS Power Grab (Letter)
Mr. Smith rightly criticizes proposed IRS rules "limiting political speech" by nonprofit 501(c)(4) groups. Those rules restrict even truthful, nonpartisan criticism of IRS and bureaucratic…
Legal Brief
Michael Mann v. National Review, CEI, et al. – Amicus brief of the District of Columbia in Support of CEI and National Review
The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a letter on August 21, 2012 from an attorney representing Penn State University Professor Michael E. Mann that demands that…
Legal Brief
Michael Mann. v. National Review, CEI, et al.: – Amicus brief of the ACLU in Support of CEI and NR
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an amicus brief supporting defendants’ right to immediately appeal Michael E. Mann v. National Review, Inc., et al.
News Release
Journalists and Media Defend Speedy Appeals Under DC Free-Speech Law in Climate Scientist Libel Lawsuit
WASHINGTON, Nov. 14 – A group of 19 major news organizations has filed a court brief supporting rapid appeals under a District of Columbia law…
Legal Brief
Amicus brief of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press in Support of CEI and NR
The Washington Post and 18 other major press entities filed an amicus brief supporting defendants’ right to immediately appeal the case. As explained in the…
Legal Brief
Michael Mann. v. National Review, CEI, et al.: Defendants’ Joint Response to DC Court of Appeals on Jurisdiction
Defendants’ (CEI and National Review) Joint Response to DC Court of Appeals on Jurisdiction.
Politico
Also in Court News – Mann Defamation Continues
ALSO IN COURT NEWS — MANN DEFAMATION CASE CONTINUES: A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday shot down a request by National Review Online to…
Policy.Mic
The Curious Case Of Michael Mann and the Most Controversial Chart in Science
Both Mann and the researchers at East Anglia have been investigated by almost a dozen different organizations, including both the governments of the…
Legal Brief
Michael E. Mann v. National Review, Inc., et al. – complaint
The Competitive Enterprise Institute received a letter on August 21 from an attorney representing Penn State University Professor Michael E. Mann that demands that CEI…
Legal Brief
DC Superior Court denial of National Review’s anti-SLAPP motion in Michael Mann. v. National Review, CEI, et al
Legal Brief
DC Superior Court denial of CEI’s anti-SLAPP motion in Michael Mann. v. National Review, CEI, et al
Richmond Times-Dispatch
Education Department Can’t Ban Speech
As a former Education Department lawyer, I share George Will’s dismay that the Education Department is now pressuring colleges to ban speech such as sexual…
Long Island Newsday
Colleges Paranoid Over Sexual Speech
As a former U.S. Education Department lawyer, I largely agree with Cathy Young's criticism of the department for demanding that colleges treat as "sexual harassment"…
Forbes
Gay Marriage, Polygamy, Bestiality, Abortion, Infanticide, Pot, Foie Gras, Plastic Bags, Big Gulps and Democracy
Consider the following list: 1) Marry someone of your same gender, 2) join a harem, 3) have sex with your donkey, 4) kill your baby the…
American Thinker
Michael Mann’s latest bogus claim
Michael Mann, the Father of the Hockey Stick graph — you know, the one where they had to “hide the decline” — seems to have…